Virus News and Research

A virus is a microscopic infectious agent that can reproduce only inside a host cell. Viruses infect all types of organisms: from animals and plants, to bacteria and archaea. Since the initial discovery of tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 5,000 types of virus have been described in detail, although most types of virus remain undiscovered. Viruses are ubiquitous, as they are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth, and are the most abundant type of biological entity on the planet. The study of viruses is known as virology, and is a branch of microbiology.

During the winter months, patients frequently present with respiratory symptoms like coughing, sneezing and fever that could be caused by one of several bacterial and viral infections including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or bacterial pneumonia. [More]

Results of the largest Canadian clinical trial to date comparing standard treatment for locally advanced squamous cell head and neck cancer with an experimental treatment, did not show the new treatment is superior. [More]

Scientists have found a way to detect earlier if a deadly cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), is recurring in patients, according to a paper to be published 11 a.m. Eastern time, Dec. 7, in the journal Cancer. [More]

In a new study, researchers have modified a rabies virus, so that it has a protein from the MERS virus; this altered virus works as a 2-for-1 vaccine that protects mice against both Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and rabies. [More]

A team of researchers, co-led by a University of California, Riverside professor, has found a long-sought-after mechanism in human cells that creates immunity to influenza A virus, which causes annual seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics. [More]

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has approved funding for three new research grants totaling over $1.7 million to investigators at Yale University. [More]

A new study by Lyle Hood, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio, describes a new device that could revolutionize the delivery of medicine to treat cancer as well as a host of other diseases and ailments. [More]

Researchers from the University of Liverpool's Institute of Translational Medicine have been awarded a grant of up to US$ 8.9 million (GBP £5.8m) to lead a multinational research consortium that aims to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV. [More]

A team of researchers in Brazil and at the Yale School of Public Health has published the first report demonstrating that the Zika virus can cause glaucoma in infants who were exposed to the virus during gestation. [More]

Shipping vaccines in an unbroken temperature-controlled supply chain (a "cold chain") all the way to recipients is a major logistical and financial challenge in remote areas and developing countries. [More]

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